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It was Akeson's first goal in 30 games since joining the Rangers out of Tier 2 Cumberland.

The Orleans kid signed with the Rangers the same day Kitchener acquired goalie Steve Mason from London. Now, Mason is out with a bad knee and Akeson made a Memorial Cup impact. Who'da thunk that?

Nick Spaling scored off Mior's blocker a minute later. Matt Halischuk slam-dunked an empty-net two minutes after that. Suddenly, it was 3-zip.

The Olympiques struck back with two quick goals to make it 3-2 after one.

Michael Stinziani buried a setup from the slot. Paul Byron swept in on a fat rebound and put it past Rangers goalie Josh Unice.

The Rangers took charge again in the second. Mikkel Boedker blew a slapper past Mior on a terrific Justin Azevedo pass. Later, Azevedo set up Matt Halischuk to make it 5-2.

Darryl Smith's power-play deflection made it 5-3 after two.

Nicholas Valliere Mayer beat Unice on a power-play one-timer to make it 5-4 early in the third. Akeson needed attention after being crunched into the boards by Gatineau's Takuma Kawai.

Akeson returned to the game.

Olympiques defender Joey Ryan took out Boedker with a leg-on-leg check. Boeder appeared to hurt his right knee but returned.

A reverse-the-flow pass from Gatineau's Claude Giroux set up Alexandre Quesnel's tying goal mid-way through the third.

The Rangers began the tournament without defencemen Robert Bortuzzo (shoudler) and Yannick Weber (ankle).

Kitchener plays Western-champion Spokane tomorrow at 4:30 p.m.

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